An individual may have a multiplicity of networked desktop and mobile devices that operate independently of the other devices and require end user authentication. Some of these devices may discover each other through technologies such as BLUETOOTH, but any trust relationships created as a result of these discoveries tend to be peering relationships between the endpoint devices such as a personal area network (PAN). A PAN or peer-to-peer trust establishment can suffer from an n-squared problem where devices participating in a PAN must be knowledgeable of the authentication mechanisms of all other devices that may wish to join the PAN.